Alleycat: Urban Street Bike Race Marks 10 Years

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The All City Championships is among the biggest annual alleycat races in the U.S. The Minneapolis event celebrated a 10th anniversary this past weekend, and we were there to race and be a part of the show.

Racers line up at Gold Medal Park in Minneapolis, ready to run downhill to their bikes below

In 2006, Jeff Frane created a bicycle street race to be the summer version of Minneapolis’ famed Stupor Bowl.

With tricky race tasks meant to emulate a working bicycle courier’s daily duties, summertime heat and humidity, and a course longer than most, the 10th All City Championship pushed even veteran racers to their limits.

Open course: Racers make final adjustments to routes at the start

A “pick-and-drop” section required riders to plan the most efficient way to shuttle multiple trips between four points. During the long “crosstown hustle,” racers’ manifests were sealed to prevent them from picking up additional stamps, which are acquired at checkpoints across the city.

One racer’s map of Minneapolis with stops marked

GearJunkie HQ served as a checkpoint in the race, one of about a dozen “stops” on the course, along with bike shops, parks, beaches, bars, and a famous water tower on a hill overlooking the town.

Here’s a look at the race in 15+ photos to get a peek at the places and personalities that make All City unique. (More photos here.)

Max Dingemans rolls up to the Palmer’s Bar pick-and-drop checkpointAll City Championship organizer Jeff Frane and racer Anne Skoglund look over a manifestFormer champion Martin Rudnick tweaks his routeSecond-place finisher Beth Franklin plans her route with a riding partnerOne On One Bicycle Studio owner Gene Oberpriller (center) on the dock, surveys the crowd building in the alleyGearJunkie editor Stephen Regenold at a checkpoint on Minneapolis’ West BankA racer hustles to take off from a checkpointA tricky set of stone stairs, followed by a few hundred feet of trail, more stairs, and a sandy beach await racers at the White Sands checkpointA few bikes await their riders atop the stairs above the Mississippi RiverA mechanical issue temporarily sidelines a racerCheckpoint volunteer stamps a racer’s manifestCheckpoint along Mississippi RiverRacer Corey Soderquist decided to hang out at the beach for a whileCruising up the trail from White Sands Beach, Alex Anderson made the smart choice to bring his bike to the bottomOne rider’s less-than-ideal route to White Sands Beach left him a little worn out

Results (Top 3 - Women) - All City Championships 2015

Jana Velo

Beth Franklin

Chelsea Strate

Results (Top 3 - Men) - All City Championships 2015

Ben Hovland

Jon Ziemer

Max Severson

Results (Top 10 - Overall) - All City Championships 2015

Ben Hovland

Jon Ziemer

Max S.

Martin R.

Rueben Lange

David Smith

Jana Velo

Ben Lagerquist

Stephen Regenold

Jeff O’Neill

–Bjorn Christianson writes “The Low Five,” a column examining the world of biking through the lens of the Minneapolis cycling scene. All photos (c) Bjorn Christianson. See more on flickr.